When it comes to treating transgender people with basic human decency and respect, North Carolina continues to fail. The latest iteration of North Carolina upholding transphobia comes in the treatment of Kanautica Zayre-Brown.
Zayre-Brown is a transgender woman who was convicted of insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses. She is now serving a prison sentence of up to 9 years and 11 months for her crime; however, she is also being punished for the unforgivable crime of being born a male with gender dysphoria. For this, Zayre-Brown has been forced to spend her time in prison at a men’s facility.
Her case is particularly depressing because, like many other transgender women, she has gone through a laundry list of procedures to have society perceive her to be female only to be denied this basic form of recognition. Zayre-Brown has undergone sex reassignment surgery, breast augmentation surgery, hormone therapy, yet she still cannot shake off the label of not being a “real” woman. Transgender women should not even have to go through such lengths to be viewed as women. In spite of that, North Carolina is effectively telling transgender individuals that no matter what they do, they will always be seen as men.
By all means, the placement of this woman into a men’s prison is both cruel and unusual. Not only does it further present our state as a draconian hellscape when it comes to transgender rights, but it also shows the reluctance of our state politicians to show even the smallest amount of empathy for transgender individuals. Up until the involvement of Governor Roy Cooper in the situation, Zayre-Brown had been denied a prison change for months.
While Zayre-Brown has been given a single-occupancy cell after months of being in a cell designed for 38 men, she is still forced to shower in the presence of the male inmates. Zayre-Brown has told reporters that every day she fears for her safety and worries about the all-too-real risk of sexual assault she may be subjected to. Her worries are more than valid as findings from the National Center of Transgender Equality found that 40% of trans inmates report physical or sexual assault during their time in state and federal prisons.
The case of Zayre-Brown should do more to demonstrate the fact that gender needs to be the defining feature of how we classify women. The strange adherence to biology in assessing someone’s gender ultimately leads to dismal situations like the one Zayre-Brown is currently facing.
From a simple utilitarian standpoint, addressing people as the gender they prefer to be recognized as is the more practical route to take. The overwhelming majority of inmates and prison staff will be unharmed by correctly placing people in their preferred gender’s prison and the transgender community will be given the basic human rights which they are entitled.
But also from a moral standpoint, recognizing transgender people as the gender they specify as is the correct path. Researchers found that 32.8 percent of transgender individuals felt very stigmatized when they were misgendered. Misgendering in these individuals can also lead to a lowered sense of self-esteem and strength in their identity.
Additionally, the decision to misgender people like Zayre-Brown further perpetuates transphobia within our society. People who do not recognize transwomen as women can point to this decision by the state government as a validation of their bigoted beliefs. The transgender community is already subjected to a disturbing amount of violence with surveys claiming that one in four transgender people have been physically attacked because they are trans.
Justice needs to come for Kanautaica Zayre-Brown immediately. North Carolina has failed too many times on the issue of transgender equality. At this stage, failure to bring her justice could mean harm to her and countless other transgender people because of the disgusting precedent being set.
